The Latest: Hirings and Promotions

The Latest is a roundup of the comings and goings of the movers and shakers in NH's business community

NONPROFITS

Cindy Coughlin has been promoted to director of mental health counseling services for Catholic Charities NH (CCNH). Coughlin has been with the organization since 2019, providing sessions as a clinical mental health counselor.

The Bedford Lions Charitable Foundation has received $86,668.45 in charitable gaming proceeds from Revo Manchester, providing funding for the Bedford Community Food Pantry, a program of the Bedford Lions Club dedicated to fighting food insecurity in the region.

The New Hampshire Boat Museum has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission to support Phase 2 of its renovation project at the museum’s Moultonborough campus.

The award is part of a $500,000 project that will renovate 6,500 square feet of the main floor, creating new educational spaces, flexible exhibits, and conference and office areas. The renovation is expected to be completed by summer 2026.

The YMCA of Greater Nashua is undergoing a renovation of its Merrimack YMCA Early Education Center, currently the largest child care center in New Hampshire. Chapman Construction has been selected to oversee the renovation of 24,000 square feet, including upgrades to 16 existing classrooms, a kitchen area, storage improvements, and new staff areas, as well as the addition of three new classrooms with private bathrooms. The expansion will allow the Y to serve many more families in the Greater Nashua area.

The Reuse Network — a Concord-based company that takes usable furniture and equipment out of landfills and gives them to nonprofits around the world in areas that need relief from disaster or poverty — recently delivered school equipment and furniture such as desks and chairs to the Salaam School in The Gambia, in West Africa, as well as to schools in Honduras in Central America; to Project C.U.R.E. in Pennsylvania; and to a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Philadelphia.

Sheehan Phinney shareholder Eric Kilchenstein has been named to the Lighthouse Credit Union Foundation board of directors. Kilchenstein previously served as chair of the Real Estate Section of the NH Bar Association, received his J.D. from the UNH School of Law and his B.A. from Mary Washington College.

The Best Buddies International chapter at Little Harbour Elementary School in Portsmouth was honored with the 2025 Overall Outstanding Chapter Award, recognizing their exceptional efforts in fostering inclusion and friendship for individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Best Buddies chapter at Little Harbour, which has 30 participants, was started in 2021 and is led by staff advisors Kristen Heath, Nicole Fragala and Britt SantaMaria. Best Buddies New Hampshire currently operates 40 chapters in middle schools, high schools and colleges statewide.

HOSPITALITY

Sal’s Pizza is celebrating a return to Salem with a new location at 4 Mall Road, located inside the Klemm’s Mobil outside the Tuscan Village. Sal’s first opened in Salem in 1990, and now has over 130 locations across New England.

LAW

McLane Middleton recently welcomed three attorneys to its firm: Aaron R. Fenton joined as a member of the firm’s Litigation Department in the Manchester office; Amanda Brahm joined as an of counsel in the Education Law and Employment Practice out of the Portsmouth office; and Amanda Archambault joined as an associate in the Employment Law and Education Law Practice Groups, also in the Portsmouth office.

HEALTH CARE

The Elliot Health System has been verified as a Comprehensive Hospital by the American College of Surgeons Quality Verification Program (ACS QVP) — the only hospital in New England and second in the U.S. to earn the designation for delivering safe, high-quality surgical care. The rigorous assessment reflects The Elliot’s success in meeting the ACS’s most rigorous standards for surgical quality, safety and patient outcomes.

Glenn Lieberman, MD, has joined the Concord Hospital Health System as a new orthopaedic surgeon at Concord Hospital Orthopaedics in Laconia. In addition, Joseph Sicard, MPAS, PA-C, has joined Concord Hospital General Surgery in Laconia.

Monadnock Community Hospital (MCH) in Peterborough has been named the 5th Most Beautiful Hospital in the U.S. by Soliant Health, based on its architectural design, community support and patient experience. Contest judges took note of the hospital’s generous daylight, wood accents and integration with the surrounding landscape.

Catholic Medical Center and Portsmouth Regional Hospital have both been named by U.S. News & World Report as a 2025-2026 Best Hospital. Factors that affected the designation included each hospital’s performance based on objective measures such as risk-adjusted mortality rates, preventable complications and level of nursing care.

REAL ESTATE

Kent White and Caitlin Burke of The Boulos Company have successfully facilitated the sale of a 45,925-square-foot industrial/warehouse building at 50 Commerce Way in Barrington.

TECHNOLOGY

Ian Williams and Jay Muelhoefer have been named as CEO and chief revenue officer, respectively, for Rightworks, a Nashua-based cloud service provider for accounting firms and professionals. Williams most recently served as CEO of DRB Systems, and Muelhoefer is the former chief commercial officer at Evolv Technology and chief marketing officer at Kinaxis.

ePropelled, Inc., a global leader in advanced propulsion and energy management technologies, has signed a joint development agreement with USA Rare Earth, Inc. to develop a strategic supply and purchase relationship providing sintered neo magnets for use in ePropelled’s motors, which are used in various uncrewed air, land and sea vehicles (drones). Sintered magnet technology involves precision processing of rare earth alloys to deliver magnetic strength and stability. USAR will begin prototyping neo magnets for use in ePropelled’s high-performance motors, controllers, generators and power management systems from its Oklahoma manufacturing plant.

EDUCATION

The New Hampshire Department of Education (NHDE) has approved Bedford Academy to expand its academic offerings to include sixth grade, beginning in the 2025-26 school year. The expansion follows the submission of a program of study and updated student policies, which were reviewed and approved in accordance with NHDE standards and received formal approval from the State Board of Education.

The University of New Hampshire has once again been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAECD) by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. UNH was the first institution in New Hampshire to receive the designation in 2019, and will hold that status until 2030. UNH offers programs in homeland security, computer science with a concentration in cybersecurity, cybersecurity policy and risk management, cybersecurity engineering, among others.

To help NH meet the urgent need for health care workers, NHTI— Concord’s Community College will launch a new certificate program this fall entitled Limited X-Ray Machine Operator (LXMO). The 3-semester program will prepare graduates to sit for the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) certificate exam, whereby graduates will be eligible to obtain a state license through the NH of Professional Licensure and Certification.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Three advisors from Rise Private Wealth Management, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, have been honored by Forbes as Best-in-State Next Generation Wealth Advisors: private wealth advisors Shanna Deshaies, Katie Geery and Kendra Kearney. The list recognizes financial advisors who have demonstrated high levels of ethical standards, professionalism and success in the business.

Charter Oak Capital Management, a wealth management firm and fiduciary with offices in Portsmouth, NH, and Kennebunk, Maine, has named Deanna B. Hutchinson as the firm’s director of compliance. She was most recently chief compliance officer at Sovereign Financial Group in Stamford, Conn.

Holy Rosary Credit Union (HRCU) has been recognized by Forbes as a 2025 “Best-In-State” credit union in New Hampshire, one of only two financial organizations to receive the recognition in the state.

Forbes partnered with Statista to survey U.S. residents and analyzed online reviews to rank the Best-In-State Banks and Credit Unions based on satisfaction, trust, customer service, digital tools and transparency.

Baker Newman Noyes (BNN), an accounting and advisory firm, announced recent promotions in its Manchester and Portsmouth offices. Recent promotions included: Michelle Morrison, CPA, manager in the tax practice; Kirsten Naessens, CPA, manager in the assurance practice; Colleen Barrett, supervising senior in the tax practice; Cathleen Cassels, Zachery Deakin, Elizabeth Dion, Kayla Mace, Marlys Mason and Simon Ouellet, seniors in the assurance practice; Alisbet Veras, senior in the tax practice; and Erica Napolitano, manager in the advisory practice.

St. Mary’s Bank recently welcomed Christine Wellington as its newest mortgage loan officer, bringing over 15 years of experience to the role. She serves as the board of directors’ president for Southeast New Hampshire Habitat for Humanity, and has joined the 2025–2026 cohort of the NH Housing Fellowship Program to help drive housing policy and community-based solutions.

Ledyard Bank appointed David Forman as vice president and financial center manager for its new Bedford location. He most recently served as a senior branch service manager for eight years, part of his over 35 years of experience working in customer service.

Bob Hauser has joined Service Credit Union as its new assistant vice president of enterprise projects. He was previously at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where he played a role in launching the FedNow instant payment platform.

Joseph Guyton, principal and founder of the Guyton Group, has been named as a President’s Council Club qualifier by the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, which is given to financial professionals who demonstrate outstanding service and dedication to their clients.

Travis Shields, of Chester, has joined Meredith Village Savings Bank’s Exeter office team as a universal banker, charged with assisting customers with transactions and accounts, online tools and other banking needs.

Bank of New Hampshire (BNH) has promoted Windy Carnes to vice president, retail banking regional manager. Carnes joined BNH as a customer service officer in 2021, and was later promoted to assistant vice president, customer service officer, in 2022 and most recently to vice president, customer service officer, in 2025.

Meredith Village Savings Bank (MVSB) recently shared that mortgage loan officer Nicole Ames (NMLS# 2370119) has graduated from the 2024-25 New Hampshire Housing Homeownership Fellows program, an educational opportunity for housing industry professionals to explore the challenges of the mortgage finance system. Fellows participate in six housing-focused workshops covering issues at a local and national level, and become familiar with New Hampshire Housing’s programs that support residents.

MEDIA & MARKETING

Cookson Communications, a communications agency working in public relations, social media, marketing, design and branding, has been named to the Inc. 5000 list, a ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Ranked at No. 3,605, this is Cookson’s second consecutive listing on the Inc. 5000 and the only advertising, marketing and PR company in New Hampshire to be on the list.

Two projects from New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) have won National Edward R. Murrow Awards, which are presented annually by the Radio Television Digital News Association in recognition of outstanding achievements in journalism that uphold the highest standards of the profession. NHPR was honored in two categories: Feature Reporting category for “Getting back in tune: The story of Justin and his missing flute” from reporter Todd Bookman, and in the News Documentary category for “Emelia’s Thing,” reported on by Lauren Chooljian and Jason Moon.

Harbor Care center welcomes new medical director

Dr. David Klebenov, MD, MPA, has been named the new medical director of the Harbor Care Health & Wellness Center in Nashua. A board-certified family physician, Dr. Klebenov has practiced medicine in New Hampshire since 2016. He completed his medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine and earned a Master of Public Administration from NYU’s Wagner School. He completed his residency at the NH Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency Program at Concord Hospital. Dr. Klebenov previously served as a family physician at Steward Medical Group in Salem, and as medical director for a NH county jail. He also held dual clinical and leadership roles at Monadnock Community Hospital and the RiverMead LifeCare Community in Peterborough.

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